Friday, June 19, 2015

SICKLE CELL DISEASE. THE STIGMA AND MISCONCEPTION

Kyrian and Ada were lovers, they were like best friends,
they decided to spend their lives together until they both found out that they
carried the sickle cell traits and it was possible to have a child or two,
maybe three that would have the sickle cell disease, so they end their love
affair of a few years.

While the decision sounded wise, there are other ways to
deal with the stigma that comes with either having the trait or having the
disease.

Sickle cell anemia is a blood disease. It is usually
inherited from carrier parent(s). It is a rare disease that occurs in people of
African or African American descent. It can also be found in some Middle
Eastern countries and also Asian countries like China. It occurs when a red
blood cell is sickle shaped as result blood flow is restricted and it causes
damage to vital organs. The normal red blood cell is biconcave in shape and the
surface area allow for blood flow across it.

The first
misconception I need to correct is sickle cell trait and sickle cell disease;
these are two related but different words. A person with the sickle cell trait
is known as (AS) genotype, here the person just has the trait and it takes
mating with a person who has another (AS) trait to have a twenty five percent chance
to have the sickle cell disease (SS). A
person who does not carry the trait is referred to as (AA).I have heard a lot
of people refer to the trait as equal to having the disease it is not true.

The stigma that lies with the misconception is one of the
reasons why education for this disease is not rapid, a lot of people bask in
the highest level of ignorance even when there are enough information outlets
about this disease. About thirty years ago, the stigma of this disease was
almost on the same level as having HIV. It was said to have no cure but another
thing is that it was not a sexually transmitted disease, neither did a
carrier’s condition get worse just by having the disease. Two lovers would stop
dating or try to get married as soon as the information about carrying a trait
was disclosed as though all their children would come out carrying the disease.
A lot of African parents would discontinue a relationship when the information
was disclosed because they didn’t want cases of burying children. The truth is
out of every four children, one would carry the trait, it is a twenty five
percent chance, so what if all the children came out normal or just the trait?

It is sad that a this rare disease has killed a lot of relationships,
if two people are brave enough to continue their relationship against all odds
and decide to get married, the fate of their children inheriting this disease
is in their hands.

There are two ways of early testing of the fetus to know
what to expect, the first is using a method called Amniocentesis is a procedure
in which the amniotic fluid of a pregnant woman is tested in her third- fourth
month of pregnancy for this genetic disorder, a needle is used to withdraw the
fluid which is then analyzed for the trait, the other method is using the
Chronic Villi sampling which is done in the second month of pregnancy, the
mother’s vagina has samples taken out with a needle, the genetic information from the mother is also
the same as that of the baby and the information is taken to the lab to be analyzed,
if the outcome of the analysis proves that the baby will have the disease then
they can make the best medical decision as the deem fit with the help of a
doctor.

Proper education and public awareness will reduce the
ignorance and common misconceptions of this disease and step up finding
possibly permanent cures to this disease.